1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to covers for protecting objects from the elements, and in particular to a cover for vehicle windshields and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various covers have heretofore been proposed for shielding and protecting covered articles from the elements. Such covers and covering systems are generally designed to accommodate the configuration of the articles being covered and to provide protection from various ambient environmental conditions, such as precipitation in the form of rain, sleet, snow, etc. or solar insolation.
As an example of a relatively common problem which can be addressed by the use of an appropriate cover, vehicle windshields can acquire accumulations of snow and ice if left unprotected in inclement weather. Removing such accumulations can be relatively tedious and require the use of hand scrapers and the like. Moreover, the vehicle windshield clearing procedures must often be carried out in inclement weather, subjecting the vehicle operators to ambient temperatures which are often below freezing and exposure to additional snowfall, freezing rain, sleet, etc. Scraping vehicle windshields has thus been a generally unpleasant task which often must be carried out in conditions which are less than optimum.
To avoid the accumulation of precipitation thereon, various covers have previously been proposed for vehicle windshields. For example, the Moszelt U.S. Pat. No. 2,614,630 discloses a windshield cover with side hooks for engaging a door frame.
The Sohne U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,192 discloses a windshield cover apparatus with straps which extend into the door openings for engagement with various vehicle interior components, such as the steering wheel and the sun visors. Installation procedures which require closing the vehicle doors on various straps, hooks and the like can be objectionable due to possible risks of vehicle damage and the necessity of opening and closing the vehicle doors, possibility in inclement weather. Such insulation procedures can also be objectionable because a person installing such a cover may be required to extend his or her hands through the door opening, and thus be subjected to the possible risk of injury from an inadvertent closure of a vehicle door.
Some previous windshield covers, such as those shown in U.S Pat. Nos. 2,614,630 and 4,948,192, required anchoring in proximity to all four corners of their generally rectangular configurations. However, anchoring tensile members in the general vicinity of the upper and lower portions of a vehicle windshield generally required attachment to some portion of the vehicle (e.g., Moszelt U.S. Pat. No. 2,614,630), or extension of the tensile members through the vehicle door openings for attachment to structure in the vehicle interior (e.g., Sohne U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,192).
The number of cover anchors can be reduced to two per cover by placing a pair of rigid members along the cover side edges and anchoring the rigid members medially to the vehicle. For example, the Lunt U.S. Pat. No. 3,588,169; the Duffy U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,608; and the Weatherspoon U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,406 all show such arrangements. However, these devices rely on hooks for engaging the windshield molding or straps for capturing in the vehicle door openings.
Heretofore, there has not been available a windshield cover with a system for anchoring it to the outside rear view mirrors with the advantages and features of the present invention. The present invention addresses some or all of the shortcomings of the previous windshield covers described above.